GEELONG forward Travis Varcoe has been ruled out for up to 10 weeks after suffering a stress fracture in his right foot.

The 23-year-old, who was among the Cats' best players in last year's Grand Final victory over Collingwood, in which he booted three goals including the first of the game, was diagnosed on Tuesday morning.

"Travis had discomfort in his foot and the scans showed the stress fracture," Geelong's general manager of football Neil Balme told geelongcats.com.au.

"He was referred and the best course of action to correct the problem is for him to have surgery.

"It is unfortunate that he will miss around 10 weeks, but we will not rush his recovery.

"It is a blow, but we expect he will only miss the start of the season proper.

"We have to be able to deal with injuries, and we expect other players will step up in Travis' absence.

"The good news is we expect him firing for the majority of the season."

Varcoe, who also played in the Cats' 2009 premiership, has been sidelined by injuries on a number of occasions during his 100-game career.

His 2010-11 pre-season was interrupted after he required surgery to correct a shoulder injury he suffered during the International Rules tour in Ireland.

He missed the first five matches of the club's 2010 campaign after suffering a broken thumb in a practice match.